Pact of Pearl
by Clementive
Summary: [AU] Her hand shook in his clawed grip. "Yes, when I die you will have my soul, demon. Just m-make him love me!" Their mixed blood sealed the pact of pearl. She lost her humanity and he may as well as regained his. GaaHina
1. Pearl of Blood

**I hope you enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated. ;)**

**I do not own Naruto.**

**Pairings: GaaHina, NaruSaku (minor)**

-X-

Hidden by a veil of navy blue hair, she has always remained in the shadows. The alleys surrounded her, she would live through them. Unseen, she fed from the darkness. She lived through the steps of a man who never turned his head towards her. Children often resumed their game through her neatly folded body against the walls. Her presence could only fit in the narrow corners of their lives. Invisible.

She was his weak shadow.

She could disappear through him.

She has never searched long for him, for the warmth in his smile. His laughter would hang on the wrinkles of her kimonos whenever she went. It would redden her cheeks, rhythm her heart in a symphony of hope. She vowed that he will look. Today. Tomorrow. Someday.

Then, her shadows would then step upon his. Her hope would faintly falter. Her heels would beat the ground, she would watch him live, pass by her. 'P-please, look at me, Naruto-kun!'

She was his fading shadow.

She was the demon's prey.

-X-

**Chapter one:  
Pearl of Blood**  
_by Clementive_

-X-

"Soon," he muttered.

The demon closed his eyes, his clawed hand feeling the thin barrier between the world of the living and the one of the dead. Shukaku smirked, his guts twisted in excitement. Through the weakening barrier, he could see the buzzing village, villagers yelling at one another for the preparations for the festival. Flashes of his own hometown contrasted with the greenery of Konoha. He growled. His human memory was made of sand and blood.

Soon, he will be free from them and the underworld. The air around the One-tailed beast shifted, his aura pulsated. It drew hisses out of lower-ranked demons.

The taste of blood filled his mouth as his tail whipped the air. The enormous monster spotted the girl and he licked his lips. Only a pact of blood could free him from the underworld. Her enticing soul twisted around her ivory complexion, her trembling hands. 'She will say yes'. As long as she lived, he would be walking in their world. It both fascinated and repulsed him, the notions of village, human bonds. Love. More blood.

Humans were ants, yet each kill was a mere wound to their history. They kneeled, prayed and carried on. They had such a small lifespan.

"Pitiful", Shukaku growled low in his throat.

His prey was different. She kept watching the object of her affection even if it shattered her piece by piece. Her wounds were not healing, they were left open for the scavengers. He smirked; that was exactly what he was, a scavenger of the soul. Hers was exquisitely delicate, innocent. However, it was made of twisting shadows and it reeked of blood.

"It is never promising when one of us show too much interest in a human, Gaara."

His old self always made him stiffen. Gaara of the Sand Waterfall. Gaara the killer. Gaara the kinslayer.

Brusquely, he wrapped his tail around a lower-demon crushing him. Crimson always made him forget. Gaara lied underground, he had died a while ago. Thirst came with the beast inside of him. Impassively, he glanced down at the pool of blood lying at his feet. He had aged and he had risen to his current strength. Those hissing larva still didn't have a tail.

Whining, other lower-ranked demons hurriedly cleared the path before the nine-tailed fox. Flames curled at his feet as the demon stopped next to his subordinate. For a short while, they both stared with hungry eyes at the living world beyond the barrier.

"You can stop calling me that now, I am not human anymore. I have earned both my tail and my rank," Shukaku replied calmly through his pointy teeth.

The demon-fox inclined his head and his red eyes searched his face. An unpleasant glint burned in his eyes.

"Soon, in fact, we will grant you with another tail. I am just making sure that you won't make us reconsider."

Sharply, the fox turned away. 'The kid still has too much humanity in him.' Some demons died screaming as dark flames hungrily licked their body. He turned his head over his shoulder smirking.

"Power is not too far away, remember that now." Red fumes framed his smirk before he disappeared altogether.

"I will make her say yes."

Shukaku gritted his teeth. Silence only answered his vow. He turned back with narrowed eyes towards the small village.

The festival of the dead was two mortal days away.

-X-

It was the first day of the Festival of the Dead in Konoha.

The sun of August was pale above their heads. Dark grey, clouds wavered in the sky, balanced by the wind. The temple of the village faintly appeared through the mist tightly wrapped around the mountains. The moist in the air made its way difficultly in her lungs. Sweat ran down her spine. Meekly, her eyes searched the crowd for a blond haired man. Hinata Hyuuga could feel her ancestors' spirits perched on her shoulders disapproving.

She shivered. Her heart beat echoed the sound of the percussions behind her. With slow controlled steps, her father recited prayers. By their sides, servants quietly carried the lantern that would help the spirits find their way to the other side.

The world of the dead would be open for three days during the ceremonial rituals of the_ O-Bon_. Hinata held her little sister's hand tighter as the procession pressed them forward. She bit her lip turning her head to her other side. 'Naruto-kun…' Her quickened inhales drew a sharp look from the elders at her side.

"Hinata-hime should be looking in front of her," an elder hissed in her ear.

The wind freed one stray of hair from her dark blue bun. Her pale skin was faintly flushed. She turned her pearl eyes towards her younger sister. She saw assurance, a grave solemn face. She saw a Hyuuga.

Her lips quivered, they murmured his name.

A thin flame casted the first shadows on the lake. The dark waters reflected the lantern lit by Hiaishi Hyuuga. Her father turned sharply to her and she let go of her sister's hand. Hinata tried to control the tremor of her body as she took the lantern that a servant was offering her.

The lantern floated away and a thousand of lights soon rejoined it. They disappeared in the mist as they kneeled praying. She looked at the members of the lesser branches, at her sister so composed in her role, at her father's back ornate with the Hyuuga heraldry.

She was the pale reflection of a Hyuuga.

-X-

She saw him holding a woman's hand. Pearl eyes widened through the mist.

Her hand clenched on the red wooden pillar of the temple. She felt lost in the crowd as she stood above. Hinata held a fist to her chest, the weight of her traditional robes brought her to her knees.

She was his shadow of pain.

The mist sheltered it, his bright smile harvested it. She stood frozen, her thoughts divided between her clan and a gold-haired man who painted a shadow in every of her gesture. The wind blew the music towards her. Below, dancers were performing the ritual dance of the dead. The sound of the flute rose and fell at each movement. Villagers circled the public ground where the dance was held. Spirits whispered around her and flames fluttered in the temple.

The wind blew and yellowish eyes opened behind of her.

Darkness leisurely enveloped her body. Jagged pain overwhelmed her.

Hyuuga did not cry.

"Say the words, little one, and I will give you what your soul most desires." The demon whispered in her ear.

-X-

Whispering quick apologies along her way, her hands pushed through the crowd. Sakura Haruno could hear the drums. The village shone faintly with the lanterns still floating on the lake. Shadows and lights met on the wooden bridge above it. 'Where is he?' She tossed her pink hair over her shoulder, impatience boiling inside of her. She hated waiting. She fumed. Her erratic movements loosened her traditional robes' grip on her body.

"Sakura-chan!" A loud voice screamed behind her.

She paused and she looked over her shoulder. Around him, many started at his loud voice. As her pink lips twisted in displeasure, Sakura turned towards man running towards her. Imperiously, she put her hands on her hips her emerald eyes fixed on his traditional robes he had put on with haste. She knew without asking that he wore them for her. When he reached her, she hardened her stare. His messy golden hair framed his determined face.

Her pulse quickened.

His face held so many memories they both shared. She remembered their games when they were younger, the park, the grass and the graze of the sun on her porcelain skin. She remembered his first day at laughing with the other soldiers, his first victory, the death of his first friend. He kept marching forward no matter what. The young woman turned her head away so he could not read her troubled expression.

"I hate waiting, Naruto-kun."

Panting, Naruto Uzumaki grinned at her and her features softened. His behaviour always both unnerve her and soothe her. She could not remember a day where he had not been part of her life.

"You look beautiful, Sakura-chan." He blushed faintly offering her his hand.

Sakura smiled, her eyes sparkling with delight. She took his hand and they disappeared in the crowd heading towards the dance.

From friends they have become lovers.

The demon maliciously laughed in the darkness. Humans were so predictable. With the right twisted of his fingers, they became puppets.

-X-

With slow steps, a tall red-haired man advanced towards her. His human form bent painfully with his new rank. Inwardly, he cringed at each of his sore steps. He normally did not care about showing his demonic form. However, it would have further frightened her and she would have slipped through his grasp. Shukaku simply could not allow that with new powers at stake.

As he approached Hinata, he took in her gaping thin lips, her frightened watering eyes. He licked his lips; her soul pulsated painfully before him.

She wanted to move but her limbs refused to obey her.

His pale jade eyes had trapped her.

She trembled like the autumn leaves at the approach of winter.

"Say the words, woman," he repeated standing next to her.

He embraced the city below them in the shades of the temple. Swiftly, spirits rummaged the land for their loved ones. Excitement tickled his human skin; the sight of those broken souls was simply delightful.

The Hyuuga princess could feel his dark aura contorted in uneven shapes around his body. She had heard stories of demons appearing during the days of the dead. Servants used to hush children to sleep with threats of demons claiming their soul if they did not behave.

Fear numbed her body. It tightly wrapped its coat around her shaking silhouette.

"We are in a holy temple…" she muttered stupidly.

Expressionless eyes stared down at her. They usually screamed at this point. Some reached for a weapon. How futile. He signed.

"So?"

For a brief instant, he let his true form leak out of his human disguise. Hinata pressed her hands to her mouth quivering uncontrollably.

"Humans have just narrow views about what demons can or cannot do. You should think of us as… genies."

She saw a monster.

He sat on his heels bringing their faces to the same level. She let out a smile cry at their proximity. Dark circles surrounded his jade orbs but his features were regular. His red hair hid part of a tattoo on his forehead. At his feet, sand glinted. Only the unsteady air around him showed his evil nature.

"Shall I grant your wish, princess?"

He took a stray of her dark hair toying with it as he watched her squirmed away. Her fear weighed heavily in her stomach. He inhaled it and its metallic scent filled his nostrils.

It awoke his gory hunger.

Horror pickled her skin with cold sweat and accelerated her pulse. She tried to cry out but her voice remained low. His jade orbs shone with amusement. How _very_ futile.

A snap of his fingers and the mist thickened around them. Soon, she could not make out the temple one step behind her.

"Go away!" Hinata muttered weakly and he smirked still twisting her dark hair between two of his fingers.

His words haunted her. They relied on the shadows of her soul, her pathetic love. His offer hung heavily in her mind. Prisoner of the whiteness of the mist, she thought of Naruto. She felt her fear weakened and her pain worsened. Traces of her inward battle appeared on her features.

"What do you want?" Her voice sounded hallow to her ears. Her heart twitched at his promise. 'Whatever the cost.' Her judgement was clouded, her love said yes. Her head spun, it screamed no and his orbs silenced its shrieks.

"I want your soul," he replied simply letting go her hair.

He wondered if she knew how intoxicating her soul felt to him. She was so naïve, so human.

"W-what?"

"Do you really care what happens to your soul once you are dead if you can live with him?"

He agitated his hand and a blond headed man appeared before them. His cerulean eyes shone with raw happiness. Her resolve dissolved.

"Naruto-kun!"

She reached for him but the illusion faded in the mist. With curiosity, he watched her blush spread to her neck. Humans really were amusing creatures. He did not remember blushing, he did not remember loving. Perhaps had he never been human after all.

"I just want him to love me…" It was barely a whisper.

Shadows crept in his angular face. His eyes turned yellowish; she had said the words.

The wind spun around them. Brusquely, her hair fell out of her bun and it dove into her robes. A green lighting ripped their shelter of mist. A scroll appeared in his hand. The sound of thunder grew louder until it covered her scream.

"Give me your soul."

Yellowish eyes opened around her. Hinata bit her below lip. There was no turning back. He smirked offering her his bloodied palm. Hesitating, she barely exposed her palm before he slashed it. Her throbbed hand shook in his clawed grip.

"Promise it to me." His voice was a roar in her head.

"Yes, when I die you will have my soul, demon. Just m-make him love me!"

Her eyes widened as green lighting covered her arm. Their joined hands wrote their pact on the scroll with crimson ink. Their mixed blood sealed the pact of pearl. Painfully, it rippled through her shadow.

The tempest ceased.

The mist cleared, she fell.

Above her unconscious form, he held to the scroll, to his freedom, to his thirst. His face was expressionless as he watched her chest rise and fall unevenly in her gaping pale robes. Her bloodied palm paled until only a faint scar remained.

He closed his eyes, tasting the wind on his skin, the ground beneath his feet.

'Finally free.'


	2. Played

**Sorry for the wait, guys! Next update will be sooner, I promise. Now, I hope you enjoy. :)**

**Nice guesses, by the way. ;)**

-X-

Inert, Hinata laid on her back her dark hair spread around her paling complexion. _Still nothing_. Dauntingly, the servants' whispers unraveled tight insults. They muttered about how she lost consciousness in the temple. Her pearl eyes on the ceiling she let the words snaked their way to her. Another weakness, another fall. She was too feeble, too unfit to be a Hyuuga. She heard it loud and clear in their dropped stare, her father's silence and her sister's disgust. 'S-shut up,' she thought dearly wishing she could scream it instead. Instead, she lay still clenching her eyes shut her hands tightening and her knuckles whitening on her wool blanket. Her father had dismissed the incident as a sign of her fragility. She had woken up to his fury, his dishonor of having her as a first born.

She opened her eyes, her heart yearning for Naruto.

The demon had disappeared. Wherever her pearl eyes stared, she saw nothing tangible that could attest that she wasn't sliding down the path of mental illness. She felt empty. There was nothing, no reminder around her. Her mouth dried as she remembered her father's narrowed eyes at the unintelligible flow of words coming out of her mouth when she awoke. Did she really say a red-haired demon out loud?

The young heiress felt the sting of tears at the corner of her eyes. She thought of Naruto and she trembled of both apprehension and excitement. Slowing raising her right hand that the evil spirit had cut, she moved it in the light filtering through the drapes of her bedroom window. She watched it glow then shade abruptly. She expected to feel different, now bound to him. A flickering warm in her chest or an overwhelming feeling of content. Raw peace flowing in her veins. In the gleam of the early hours, she felt nothing. Her skin tainted by dusk's grey light, Hinata bit her below lip staring up at her unmarked right palm. Letting it fall back at her side, she shifted her glaze to the ceiling below her.

She wondered if the demon failed her, if she gave her soul up for nothing.

Unbeknownst to her, the pattern of the kanji of love was traced on her back.

**Chapter two:  
Played  
**_By Clementive_

-X-

Light steps and lurking shadows broke the harmony of the main compound of the Hyuuga clan. They sensed one another in the darkness and their eyes shone like full moons. They had barely spoken to one another during the past four months in order to divert the attention on their conniving stares they exchanged at each of the heiress's failure. They had gritted their teeth and feigned innocence when Hizaishi's brat had cornered them and then later when Hiaishi himself noticed some irregularity surrounding the heiress.

Yet, they still thought of her as unfit, weak and cowardly. They thought of the future, of the void that Hiaishi's death would leave behind if she were to take upon the title of leader of the clan. No, when they thought, the clan thought and the clan thought that Hanabi would serve them better.

A hand reached out of the darkness before the two men and they didn't hesitate. They pushed a heavy chest in the direction of the newcomer.

"You will get the rest when the job is done."

The clan thought Hinata Hyuuga should die.

-X-

Later, dusk was still pale, grey-like as it slid across his skin.

The demon jumped from roof to roof, Konoha unfolding before him in dimmed light. He still felt uneasy in his old skin; his muscles still adjusting to his powers. Wildly, the cool breeze plastered his red hair on his forehead. Power ran through his veins, he felt it with each heart beat; the earth beneath his feet and her innocence. He couldn't keep the smirk off his lips; the woman had been as gullible as he had imagined. Power, no remorse. Her vow still rang to his ears and her soul was his. Leisurely, his smirk turned wolfish. His bare feet sliding across the wooden surface of a tall mansion, he hunched forward sniffing the air for his trail. He let the smell of angry blood pass him again. Killing one of them seemed pointless. Only the chase gave him goosebumps, the thrill of quick steps of fear. Fear had a delicious aroma, the flavor of death, the unknown.

He had almost forgotten it all; raw ecstasy, the weakness of a prey and subhuman instinct orienting his blows.

In a swift motion, the one-tailed demon jumped down the roof and landed on his feet in the dark alley beneath. A sensation curved in his knees joints making them slightly shake. He had long forgotten about physical pain. Distastefully, his gleaming orbs turned black and he hissed. 'Humans are so limited…'

"Funny sensation isn't it, Shukaku? To be human again."

His features froze and slowly he rose back to his full length. The hunter had become the hunted. The younger demon deeply growled in his throat frowning at the lurking shadows. He could only make out the shadowy figure of a man sitting against the farthest wall. Red eyes glinted and he could smell sulfur weighing down the air. Dauntingly, it tightly curved in the air and reached past him.

"Hopefully, it won't be long," the red hair demon coldly replied. "She signed the contract."

"As you may imagine, Shukaku, I _felt_ it. I didn't know you had it in your black human heart to trick her."

The darkness shifted unevenly and a thin scroll rolled slowly towards Shukaku's bare feet. Warily glancing down at it, he remained still not willing to bend to pick it up. A human hand gleamed, wrapped in moonlight as it pointed towards the object that still lay before him untouched.

"The tailed demons have come down to an agreement about your tail. Aren't you curious about it? Go on, pick the scroll up."

He hesitated before snapping his fingers. Green light exuded from the translucent paper as it unrolled before him. His eyes ran over the paper and he felt his insides knotted. 'Humans are too limited by their feelings'. The unfamiliar stench of bile filled his mouth. Again, his body was betraying him.

"A week," he said flatly attempting to cover his uneasiness.

Cold laughter erupted from the shades.

"Yes, a week. Now, what would be the fun of having tricked her if you can't have her soul rapidly? If she gives you her soul within the week, we will grant you another tail. That means if she agrees to die. If she refuses, you'll go back to being a mere subordinate in the inferno."

The scroll disappeared in thick black smoke. It caressed his cheek as silence settled between the two demons.

Light sank in the nothingness surrounding them and he felt him shift, drawing closer to him. Unflinching, he stared into the cerulean eyes staring back at him.

"Now what do you say, Gaara? Do you accept our terms?"

Her dark hair contrasting with her pale complexion appeared before his eyes and he found himself nodding. Once more, he was Gaara. He was human and in need of light, guidance. The smell of her soul was enticing; floral determination wrapped in a zest of sweet blood. He tried to convince himself it was the sweet scent of her soul that brought him to her, that he could ignore the rush of blood in his human at the indirect mention of her.

Their stare hardened, they were merely humans again. They were the same, fighters in a world of darkness to acquire powers in a world of light. Humans then demons.

"Consider it done, Naruto," he hissed in return.

A wide smile sparkled in the darkness and the demon was suddenly gone. The familiar scent of sulfur kissed his jaw and he willed his human body not to choke onto it.

The day rose to the second day of the Festival of the Dead.

-X-

The tattoo was dark red, curled in the small of her back.

She noticed it for the first time when it startled the servants helping her with her bath. Steam wrapped itself around her pale limbs and her pearl eyes quivered before the kanji sign imprinted in her skin. Love.

Quickly, Hinata wrapped herself in a cotton light kimono. With a mere nod, she sent the servants away. Her hand pressed against her mouth, she felt sick in the pit of her stomach. The demon eyes seemed to shine in the steam tendrils around her. She remembered seeing the same colour on the demon's forehead. She saw the demon's wide smirk, his strong jaw and his red messy hair.

Her breath was caught in her throat as the servants returned. They pressed damp towels onto her stiff body. They averted their glance, not even daring to mutter a comment among one another.

The image faded away in the heat, in the mirror. _Love_.

She didn't have a soul, in front of her the mirror stood bare for the servants.

She had no reflection.

He played her and she was his.

Immortal.

-X-

Sometimes, it amused Naruto how his mate would understand his world better than she understood her own. Her teachers had always called her intelligent, but when her body snaked within arms after his meeting with Shukaku, he couldn't help smile when she understood his darkness. His candid would fade and she would smirk with him. His mouth attacked her neck as she stared at him with her green orbs, smirking with ease at another woman's misfortune.

"She doesn't interest you, now does she, Naruto?"

He shook his head softly kissing her cheek and she closed her eyes satisfied. He had told her years ago about the inquiring pearl stare that seemed to follow him everywhere. He hardly held any interest in human traditions and politics but Sakura told him about the wealth of the Hyuuga clan and their prowess in battles during the Edo period. Their eyes could see through their enemy and he reasoned that their power must have faded since the Hyuuga heiress hadn't seen through him.

"Her soul smells delicious but I prefer you." His kisses burned her lips but she hardly cared anymore as she rested her head on his chest. "You have two minds while she only has one. She probably didn't realize that I'm no human and Gaara tricked her into thinking that she could set spell on me. He has only one tail, his powers are too limited for that kind of spell."

She moved across the sheets staring up into his blue deep eyes.

"Would you have tricked me?"

Pressing her against his chest, he laughed silently.

"You are more intelligent than me, Sakura-chan. You would have tricked me and not the other way around."

Naruto tenderly bit the soft flesh of her neck and her mewls made him smirk. Yes, sometimes, his human made him wonder about her true nature and the one of every human. Was their dark side more invasive than their good angelic side?

Yet, she made him oblivious almost goofy. He still felt the heat of her smiles back in limbo. The Kyuubi had enough tails to play his dangerous games with ease. They had two minds, two sides of their humanity. During the day, while she healed mortals, he burned their dead souls. At night, while she laughed about her own mortality and their dying wishes, he smiled like a human child.

Slowly, the nine-tails demon lost himself into their shared kiss and he saw with a certain pride that she had more power over him than he had over her. Quivering darkness probably attracted her more than regular human love. As long as she liked it better he knew he would find a place in her arms.

-X-

Her ceremonial robes weighed down her movements as she served the tea for her father and two elders. Hinata kept herself from gnawing on her below lip despite the harsh cold stares fixed on her. Even with her eyes lowered to the porcelain tea cup, she could read disgust on their faces, on slightly arched eyebrows.

"Your uncles are concerned about your safety, Hinata."

She slowly nodded to the deep cold voice of her father. She was used to the lectures, to the blame of her own clumsiness and her shyness. That was merely why, he called her Hinata and Hanabi, his daughter.

"We decided to assign you a bodyguard for the remainder of the festivities."

She set down the teapot her mind whirling.

"I don't think it's necessary, father." She forced the words out of her mouth in a soft voice.

"I'm not asking for your opinion."

Harshly, Hiashi turned towards the sliding doors and the servant a man deeply bowed. She recognized at once the stiffness of his neck, his arrogant posture. 'Oh no. No, no, no!' She felt familiar cold fingers of fear around her neck and she found it difficult to breathe. The teapot slipped between her fingers and broke in several pieces. She saw annoyance spread on her father's features and the red haired man slowly rose up his head.

A firmly drawn smirk on his lips, he cocked his head on a side.

"Hinata-sama, it is a pleasure to meet up. My name is Gaara of the Sand and I will be your protector for the rest of the week."

His eyes deviously gleamed as he exchanged a brief discreet nod with the two elders who remained in the shadows of the ceremonial room.


End file.
